GERMANTOWN — If you have a guitar and you call yourself an artist, most people would assume you are a guitar player, but that's not the case for one Germantown artist.
Sarah Gallenberger is a painter, and instead of using a canvas for her work, she chooses guitars.
“I think that it's really rewarding to just see my work on a stage with lots of people enjoying the music watching the show. It’s just really exciting as opposed to painting a canvas," Gallenberger said.
For the past decade her life has revolved around guitars. Gallenberger works with the popular guitar brand Fender. Customers will order a specialty guitar from the Fender Custom Shop. Then Fender will reach out to her to add a one-of-a-kind painting to the body. It takes Sarah about 40 hours to finish one design. The guitars range from $5,000 to $20,000.
"Right now, I am only working with Fender just because they have kept me so busy," she said.
That means you can't send her a message to order a custom paint job. However, she does paint guitars for free for the local charity Guitars for Vets. It's a Kenosha-based organization that gives veterans free guitars and lessons as a form of therapy. Gallenberger paints guitars that are no longer fit to play and the organization auctions them off.
This all happened accidentally. In 2011 she was unemployed. Sarah was looking for marketing jobs and asked her friend at Fender if any positions were open. Instead, that friend referred her to the custom shop and the rest is history.
“Like I said I was always a hobby artist a hobby crafter," Gallenberger said. "It really took other people to recognize that I had this eye for visual art and original design.”
Most of her guitars are bought by customers overseas. She’s currently working on an order of 12 custom designs for a German music shop. She has also made guitars for the Japanese rock band L'Arc-en-Ciel.
“I’ve seen those guitars on stage in the Tokyo Dome and other big venues in Japan which is just really exciting to see.”
As popular as her work is, this is just her side gig.
“I like having a regular job as well where I can go to an office a few days a week and be around people and participate in things like potlucks. Being a freelance artist, you’re alone a lot of the time.”
However, there are certainly people who wish she would make the switch since she has a two-year waitlist for custom guitars.
Funny enough, Gallenberger isn't even a guitarist. She grew up around guitars and family members who play, but strumming a six string never struck a chord with her.
"I can play a few chords I can play the ukulele a little bit, but I am better at painting."
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